Global equities continued their record-setting rally, driven by surging technology and semiconductor shares as optimism around artificial intelligence spending accelerated.
The MSCI All Country World Index rose for a sixth consecutive session, while MSCI’s Asia benchmark hit a new high, led by South Korea’s Kospi Index, now the world’s best-performing major equity gauge this year. Chipmakers remained at the centre of investor enthusiasm, with SK Hynix extending its meteoric rise and becoming only the third Asian company to surpass a $1 trillion valuation, alongside TSMC and Samsung.
In the US, Micron Technology also crossed the $1 trillion mark after a sharp rally, helping push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to fresh records. Investors are increasingly betting that memory chip producers will benefit disproportionately from the global AI infrastructure boom, as persistent shortages are expected to continue through 2027.
At the same time, easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East supported risk appetite and pressured oil prices lower, with Brent crude falling 1.6% on hopes of a potential US–Iran peace agreement and progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury yields edged lower, and the US dollar weakened against most major peers, while the New Zealand dollar strengthened after hawkish signals from the country’s central bank.
Meanwhile, traders remained focused on currency markets, especially the Japanese yen, which hovered near intervention-sensitive levels against the dollar, even as some strategists predicted a broader rebound in the currency after months of weakness.
